Third-party specialists can now be hired to end relationships. Photo: Cui Meng/GT

Breakups are never easy, no matter how one goes about letting the other person down. Relationships are an important part of life, and ending them is a common part of it. But now with the help of a breakup agency, the once sticky encounter could become a whole lot smoother. 

Qi Linlin, a breakup agent, must go through the dreaded breakup scenario on behalf of her client. Part of her job is to call the boyfriend or girlfriend of her clients and inform the person on the other end of the phone that this is indeed a third-party breakup call.  

As part of the process, Qi must rehearse the scene with clients many times, playing out each possible encounter before calling the unsuspecting, soon-to-be "ex" of her client. Through this successful breakup business, she makes 50 yuan ($8) per breakup call or "Dear John letter."

Since the hot screening of the film The Breakup Guru on June 27, which swept over 450 million yuan at the Chinese box office, the breakup business that the film features began to boom in the real world.

A search on China's biggest e-commerce website Taobao gives the option of over 20 different breakup agencies. On the Twitter-like platform Sina Weibo, numerous other such specialists offer similar services.

Qi said that she works for a Taobao shop called Rainbow Spare Time whose business used to be running daily errands, but has now expanded to include the breakup service amid the popularity of The Breakup Guru.

With a team of nearly 10 people who deal with client breakup demands, their services include writing  breakup letters, making breakup calls and sending breakup texts, and even carrying out face-to-face breakups with strangers. The price starts from 50 yuan for a basic letter or phone call, with the fee rising for more complicated breakup schemes.

Qi assured Metropolitan that they assess the nature of all cases before becoming involved in ending them. Since this new service has been added, the owner of the agency, Zhang Shu, has so far solved five breakup cases including an online love affair and a long-distance relationship.

In the past three weeks, another breakup business owner by the Web name Xinniang Yijiao, has been contracted to send 15 breakup letters from his shop Qingdao Bourgeois Home.

"Each e-mail costs 30 yuan and is written based on each client's story," said Xinniang Yijiao.

Despite the booming business, vendors are not certain whether this new service can go the distance.

According to Xinniang Yijiao, the breakup agency is a short-term affair. "I think those clients who have contacted us did so purely out of curiosity after the screening of The Breakup Guru."

Zhang states that he encourages people to settle their own love disputes themselves because a breakup agency may cause damage to the privacy of a relationship and do more harm than good.

"A third-party agency should be a last resort," said Zhang. "In the future, I hope to run a business that helps lovers to reunite, not split apart, which would be a far more positive action."

Shao Zhouying, an experienced relationship counselor, told Metropolitan that people who use third-party breakup agencies to split with their partner demonstrate a "lack of sensitivity and responsibility."

"A relationship is a two- person problem. If you find a third party to solve it, it's avoiding responsibility,' said Shao.

"This is common behavior seen in the post-1980s and -1990s generation. This is no different from asking your parents to solve your job problems for you."